One of Nintendo's cutest, most family friendly franchises may have just gotten its first-ever injection of adult themes with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's addition of the "Vacation Juice" item, which totally isn't alcohol. The game's developers clearly gave themselves an out by giving the animals' new favorite beverage such an innocuous name, but with debt collectors like Tom Nook and OK Motors hanging over their heads, it's fair to say the cuddly creatures deserve to kick back and relax with a drink.
Not to be confused with the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a new, island-themed mainline title delayed by Nintendo for release in March 2020, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a free-to-play mobile game that provides a bite-sized slice of what Animal Crossing fans crave. Though it's far from one of the worst offenders within the noxious mobile gaming sphere, Pocket Camp was notably banned in Belgium this year over its implementation of predatory loot boxes as a result of the country's previous ruling that the practice is an unregulated form of gambling. As such, Vacation Juice is the least of Nintendo's worries in recent memory, with this funny little blip in the series' otherwise spotless record of family-friendliness really serving as a helpful diversion from loot box concerns.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's newly added Vacation Juice is a decorative food item that can be unlocked through Pascal's Crunchy Munchies Garden Event, and the fruity mixed drink is taking Twitter by storm. Though it's wholly possible (and very convenient) that Vacation Juice is actually a non-alcoholic cocktail, everyone is having far too much fun online letting their imaginations run wild about players and the series' cutesy critters letting go of their inhibitions after having one too many Vacation Juices. Twitter user Lulu shared a hilarious video of the otherwise reserved Isabelle doing a tipsy fan dance next to the culprit drink, while pop artist Shawn Wasabi remarked that he's looking to collaborate with interested parties on a Vacation Juice-related song.
Nintendo's yet to comment on the explosive, parodical popularity of Pocket Camp's Vacation Juice, and the developer may be wise to simply maintain its silence beyond cashing in on the public interest with a brief and witty acknowledgment on social media. However, even with a recent movement from within the company to better embrace modern industry trends, Nintendo is notoriously out-of-touch with Western gaming audiences, so it's equally likely that the company will go on full damage control by expunging the cheeky item from existence and issuing an unwarranted apology.
Whichever way Nintendo ultimately handles what is the best viral moment to ever come from Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp may actually be rather telling as to how the developer will approach post-launch support for the Switch's approaching Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as to what degree the new game will or won't be allowed to push the envelope. At the very least, it can be hoped that Pocket Camp characters are allowed to continue getting their drinks on this summer.
Source: Lulu/Twitter, Shawn Wasabi/Twitter